CEC of Georgia starts checking after placing banners against opposition in Tbilisi

| News, Georgia

The Central Election Commission of Georgia announced the start of a check after banners with "bloody" images of opposition leaders appeared in Tbilisi. The Georgian authorities and the Tbilisi City Hall declared no involvement.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili announced that the elections of mayors and deputies of city assemblies will be held in the country on October 2. After that announcement, the parties began to nominate their candidates. 56 local and 19 international organisations have been registered to observe the elections of mayors and deputies for Georgian city assemblies, the country's Central Election Commission reported. On September 12, the Georgian opposition accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of trying to disrupt an event at which opposition parties presented candidates for positions in the administration of the city of Vani.

Banners appeared on the streets of Tbilisi, which depicted the faces of the leaders of the Georgian opposition and opposition journalists against the background of red drops imitating blood, with the inscription "No Natam, no evil, no betrayal."

The banners were placed on billboards set aside to advertise the vaccination campaign. On September 20, the National Center for Disease Control approached Alma, which was contracted to advertise vaccinations. The head of the centre, Amiran Gamkrelidze, demanded that Alma resume the campaign to promote vaccination. Gamkrelidze said that according to the agreement, the company had no right to post the political banners since the billboards were rented until December.

On September 20, the Alma company issued a statement in which it indicated that it had nothing to do with the placement of banners with images of Georgian oppositionists. The company is only responsible for placing ads, while the design of images is not its function. The management of Alma explained that, according to the agreement, it will place banners with the image already applied onto the billboards.

On the same day, the head of the Georgian Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, announced the start of an investigation after the advertisements were posted.

Georgian oppositionists believe that "Georgian Dream" is behind the placement of the scandalous banners. Opponents of the authorities believe that in this way the ruling party is trying to mobilise its supporters through polarisation.

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